Symbolism In Jesus Camp

Idealization Depicted in Jesus Camp
Final Essay
Melanie Lannan
March 24, 2017
RE 348 OC
Student Number- 140225170


“Religious idealizations can be profoundly dangerous psychologically and socially. By insisting that their purity and truth are absolute, religions can split the world into camps of good and evil, can be adherents in a state of infantile dependence, and can generate a violent fanaticism,”(Jones, 78). The film Jesus Camp, is a chilling documentary that shows various young children and their experience in attending an Evangelical Christian camp called Kids on Fire. That said, the children at this camp are influenced to be ‘born again’ Evangelical Christians. In Terror and Transformation, Jones depicts
“Idealization of one’s own tribe, tradition, or gender in the name of religion provides a ready rationale for violence against the “other” who is now seen as demonic, impure, and thus available to be slaughtered with impurity,”(Jones, 76). Bush promoted Creationism to be taught in school, and the lessening of scientific reasoning and evolution. Mike Papantonio, a radio show host, said on air that, “children are being lied to”. “80 million people are very tenacious and elbow their way into positions of power in America, and building a government they are comfortable with, there is a chipping away of the separation between church and state,”(Jesus). They use their values within the film to promote their beliefs in a political way. One of the most disturbing activities in the film was the protesting of abortion, and children having tape covering their mouths with the term “life”. They are seen in Washington chanting hymns and “singing it for this nation”. Seen outside political buildings, “the prayers of little children can shake kings”. These children think that they belong to an army of God and that they are warriors in the name of God. “Idealization provides the psychological fuel propelling the missile of religious fanaticism,” (Jones,
Some, not all religious individuals, use religion to surrender themselves and become devoted to engaging in heavy worship, and strict commitments to what the Bible says, and the values of the church to not only make the decisions on how they live their lives, but how they raise their children and their political views and participation in politics. Jones using his argument that, “he sees very few examples of what he calls "transformative realism and humility" in the history of religions that would foster maturity in its followers,”(mylearningspace, Lesson 5) relating it directly to the examples of faith depicted in Jesus Camp. The connections made between the unhealthy activities portrayed in the film Jesus Camp, and Jones’s argument result in Becky Fisher, and Evangelical parents submitting their children from birth to have an unhealthy relationship with the Bible, and the Lord. This ongoing crisis threatens anyone who does not identify with similar beliefs and will the breeding of brainwashed, submissive individuals that surrender to an infallible leader will